Saved By a Bullhead.

I thought I was going to have a triple Skunk on my hands until this little jumpin bullhead pulled down the Spro Frog right next to shore and came back with the hook set. I caught it on the SE side of the GOMH.

It would have been a triple skunk because of my luck at Eddy's. Last night I left my the little tackle boxes with my hooks and beads on the boat and due to some bad luck they ended up going home with somebody else. So not getting my stuff back was the 1st skunk. The 2nd Skunk was not catching anything when I went fishing off Eddy's Jetty.

Eddy's Launch with Dad

Tonight Dad and I went on our first launch trip of the year out of Eddy's Resort on the West side of Mille Lacs Lake. This time we got to fish out of the Flagship which is Eddy's biggest boat. On the night all 5 launches were in operation.

The day had been hot with thunderstorms that passed to the north cooling things down. By the time we were out at 6PM it was partly cloudy and in the mid 80's with a light South breeze. The Launch headed South of Rocky Reef in about 22 feet of water. A lady in the back of the boat with us caught a little walleye immediately. I was the first between Dad and I to get on the board with a nice jumbo perch that I gave away to a lady who wanted it. This woman's name was Oksana and she is a Russian immigrant who was out fishing with her son. Dad and I talked with her a lot and learned she was a massage therapist which will come into play a little later.

Dad got on the board with a little walleye.
The picture makes the fish look much bigger than it actually was. It was too small to keep dispite Oksana's protests. She was of the opinion that no fish was to small because she is used to catching and keeping little bullheads down in extreme Southern Minnesota where she lives.

The boat was catching lots of little fish at the 1st stop, so we moved around 8PM when a little thunderstorm came up and sprinkled and rumbled a little. The storm wasn't nearly enough to force us off the water. Right away in the new location a guy in the front of the boat caught a 25 inch protected slot fish. Pretty soon a few keepers and more overs were comming aboard. My bobber went down and I hooked into this 17 inch keeper.
I gave the fish to Oksana and she was so grateful she gave me a 20 minute back rub. By the end of the night Dad got a back rub too. Dad caught another small walleye and I caught a small perch. Oksana caught a couple of little walleyes that went back and her son missed several bites. A lot of fish were caught on the launch and I think there were around 9 keeper walleyes and 6 overs and maybe close to 2 dozen cigars and a handful of perch. It was a fun time.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Quality and Runts

Originally I wasn't going to fish today, but it was so nice out I decided to hit the lake after it cooled down a little bit. It got to 86 and was partly cloudy, so the sun was out all day and I thought I might get into some good dock fishing. I wanted to hit the lake at 6PM but I was held up re-organizing my tackle from the tournament bag to the boat. While I was doing that the UPS man showed up with my order from Action Plastics. I finally got my gear together around 6:30PM and I headed for the lake place.

I got the gear in the boat and decided to put one of my new Action Plastics on a parrot Outkast Swim Jig and throw a few casts. The grub I put on was a 5" "cool ice" Mag Grub. "Cool Ice" is a clear blueish grub with multi colored tinsel strips embedded in the plastic. On the very first cast this 16 incher blew up on the jig.


I threw a few more casts off the dock, loaded up the rest of my gear and headed across the bay to the docks I fished 8 days ago. I actually started a little farther to the West so I would hit more docks. There was a little bit of wind blowing on this shoreline but I still had reasonable control when skipping a Zoom Super Fluke. On about the 4th dock I pulled 2 bass that went 10.75" on a bubblegum Super Fluke. As I worked my way onto last weeks productive docks, pads, and weeds I noticed a distinct lack of fish activity. 8 days ago I was seeing plenty of sunfish and even a bass or two in addition to catching fish. I didn't get any bites on the pads or weeds. I finally got down to a dock that has been very good to me and I made a good cast and was rewarded with a 16" bass. My bubblegum Fluke disappeared in the fight, so I changed to "electric chicken" which I have mistakenly called "funky chicken." I went back and reworked the previous dock with the Fluke and was rewarded with a 12.75" largie. I then went back and reworked the 16 inchers dock with a black and blue Terminator jig with sapphire Denny Brauer Chunk. I tossed in under the pontoon boat lift and a quality fish picked it up. I was not able to get the fish up and over part of the lift before it got off. This success convinced me to keep hitting docks as I kept going beyond where I stopped 8 days ago. I got 1 more 15.25" bass off a boat lift with the jig.

Around 8PM I was basically out of docks. I threw the Outkast swim jig on the weed flat and caught a little pike. After a few more casts with the jig I tried a Frenzy Popper but couldn't raise anything. Next on my tour was reeds, pads, and rice so I started throwing a Zoom Horny Toad and then a white Spro Bronzeye Frog and not much was happening. I worked my way into the big reed bed in our bay and a fish hit something in the distance so I zeroed in on that spot. Sure enough I was rewarded with a nice bass attacking the frog, but I lost it on the way in. A few casts later I caught a little pike and that was it for the night.

I fished for a little over two and a half hours and caught 6 bass and 2 pike, so it was kind of slow but I am not gonna complain after yesterdays tournament.

Story: Almost forgot. I came across a guy who was fishing off a dock and we started talking. He heard from one of the guys on the Platte Lake Association board that the DNR did some electrofishing this year and the bass numbers were really high. He didn't know anything about size make up, but he goes on to tell me that Platte Lake fish are long and skinny, but I've caught plenty of bass to know the bass are usually either about normal with a few that qualify as super chunks that are heavy for their size.

Snatcher South Long

South Long Lake was the location of my 2nd Baxter Bass Snatchers Bass Club tournament of the year. The weather forecast for the day called for overcast with showers arriving in the late morning and continuing into the afternoon with 10-15mph SE winds building in the late morning. The actual weather was pretty close to the forecast although the sun came out from about 9 to 11AM and the winds seemed to be lighter than predicted. At the end of the tournament day, there was a light rain that got a little heavier around weigh in at 3PM. I never put on rain gear and was saved at the weigh-in because there was a tent set up for us. We were fortunate to be able to weigh in at a home on the lake.

My boater Dwight and I launched on the North end of the lake around 6AM and then we had to make our way South to the Public Access where we would have the blast-off. On the way, South Dwight pointed out some docks that we would hit first thing if a lot of boats went to the South end of the lake at blast off. Dwight and I were the last boat to blast off out of 11 boats so we would see where everyone else went first.

I think we had blasted off around 6:50AM and all but 1 boat went North, so Dwight and I went back to the original plan which was to go to the South end of the lake to start the day. On our way South we hit some docks that we pulled some good fish off of when we pre-fished. Nobody was home and so we made our way to the South End of the lake just to the North of where the river flows out. The plan was to spend the morning and possibly most of the day working the slop in the South end of the lake. I started out throwing a white Zoom Horny Toad and had a fish blow up on it right away but I missed it. It wouldn't go after the Horny Toad again, so I followed up with a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke which was promptly slashed at by the fish which turned out to be a pike. We moved on.

As we made our way North Dwight had a blow-up on his Spro Frog and it was a good fish that we got a good look at when it jumped. Unfortunately, it buried itself in the lily pads and got off. I think that was the only bite we got working North in this particular run of slop. When we got to where the slop ended there was another tournament boat so we headed across the bay to work some more slop, predominated by pads. While working this stretch I had a big blow-up on a yellow Zoom Horny Toad that didn't hook up and I didn't get anything with my follow-ups. We went for a long stretch without anything but when we got close to where the river flows out I had another blow up that didn't hook up. I threw right back and let the toad sink and there was a swirl so I set the hook and landed 12.5" keeper. As we kept moving North we were now reworking the water we started on. As we were passing a dock with a pontoon I made a nice long cast with a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke beyond the pontoon in front of where a short section of dock came out. Sure enough, there was a swirl and I set the hook. The fish moved to my left behind the pontoon and my line got caught up with a rope on the pontoon and the bass completely came out of the water. Dwight quickly moved us over there and netted the 12.75" bass. That would be the last fish on the far South end of the lake. After running pretty much to the end of the slop run we decided to move out of the area.

Once again when we got to the narrows we hit the docks that gave up good fish when we pre-fished. Dwight pulled a small keeper off of one of the docks. We ended up running a lot of shallow docks moving North and didn't get any more bites. We moved out into some reeds and didn't get any bites. We moved on to a weed flat and didn't get any bites. We moved into some slop/pads and Dwight pulled a solid 2 pounder on a black/blue jig and beaver pitching in the pads. I was throwing a Horny Toad and not getting any bites. We worked the area without any more bites, so we decided to head to the North end of the lake to some slop where we got some hits in pre-fish.

The area we went to on the North end of the lake had junk weeds, pads, and some docks. Near a dock, I spotted a 2lb bass close to the boat and cast to it with the yellow Zoom Horny Toad. It started swimming towards the Toad like it was going to take it, but then veered off and disappeared; none of my follow-ups would find this fish. As we were moving along Dwight spotted a solid 2+ pound fish that had a lure in the side of its mouth but all the fish did was swim right by the boat. We got to another dock and I had a blow-up on a black Zoom Horny Toad but once again I didn't hook up. Dwight flipped into some weeds by this dock and had a pick-up but he didn't hook the fish. I immediately threw back to the spot of my blow-up with the bubblegum Super Fluke and was rewarded with a 14.25" bass. We kept working in this area which looked awesome but couldn't find any more fish.

Dwight conferred with me and I suggested we go hit an area about midpoint in the lake where there were reeds, pads, maidencane, cattails and slop and so that is where we went. Dwight was working us into some docks before we would go into the reeds and pads when he connected with a 2lb bass on a white spinnerbait. I sent a short fish flying on a hook set with the black Horny Toad. As we got into the reeds there was a pontoon fishing to the South of us and Dwight spotted them pull in a dogfish and two bass on spinnerbaits, so he threw his spinnerbait and was rewarded with keeper bass that filled his limit. I started throwing a gold/white Brovarney Swim Jig with gold glitter 5" Action Plastic Super Mag grub and caught a 12inch keeper. I threw the swim jig into an opening in the reeds and something bit at the jig but didn't get it. I threw back and it was fish on. As I was reeling it in it jumped way out of the water and then dove and pulled off. Dwight thought it was a 4lb+ fish; I didn't get the greatest look at it but it was a 3lber minimum. Missing this fish really hurt me. I continued to throw the swim jig and caught a 14.75" and another fish that was just over 12.

Dwight culled a couple of times pitching a black/blue jig in the weeds. I tried a black/blue jig without success and then went to throw the black Zoom Horny Toad with which I culled a 12-incher with a 12.75" and a 12.15" with a 13.5". We went back and worked over the most productive stretch of water but couldn't get bit so once again we headed South to the pads where Dwight pulled the fish on the jig. I was throwing the Horny Toad and had a couple of fish that had to be small swipe at it. It started to rain and conditions seemed perfect for the fish to get active so we worked ourselves into a reed bed but couldn't get bit.

We were running out of time, so we headed across the way to some sparse pads. I had a big dogfish follow my Horny Toad, but there was no bass to be found and it was time to head to weigh in on the North end of the lake.
At the weigh-in, my big bass was a measly 1lb 10ozs and my 6 fish bag went 7lbs 12ozs which put me in 15th out of 22 anglers. My partner Dwight had 10lbs 15ozs and captured 9th place. The winning bag was 14lbs 3ozs and big bass was 3lbs 15ozs.

Due to the low club turn out, the 15th place finish tied my 2nd best placement in the club this far to date. Had I caught the big one that got off I probably would have moved up 3 more places and possibly as many as 6 if it was over 4lbs like Dwight thought.

Post Tournament Thoughts: This one was a disappointment in that the fishing wasn't nearly as good as I expected it to be. The quality of the fish I got on the Horny Toad was a letdown. My execution on fish that bit was a bit of a let down especially due to the fact that my opportunities were limited. The size of the fish I am catching so far this year is a letdown. Basically, I am now scraping the bottom of the barrel among those who have fished both tournaments and weren't disqualified. I am not fishing as well as I did at this point last year even though I actually have 1 more point than I did at this point last year. The bottom line is that I expect to fish better than the level I have been performing this year in the tournaments.

Our next tournament isn't until July 18th and is at Lake Ida North of Alexandria. I have never fished the lake and don't really know much about it other than it has smallmouth in addition to largies. I am thinking that my partner draw in this one is going to be especially crucial to the outcome for me. My partner draws so far this year are better than my results should indicate. If any Bass Pundit reader wants to fill me in on Ida my email is basspundit@hotmail.com .

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Pretty Dog better Bass

Once again tonight there was the chance of thunderstorms, but tonight they missed me completely. There was a pretty big looking storm quite away to the North. When I started fishing at 5:30PM it was overcast with a 7mph West wind, but it cleared up around 6:30PM and the wind died to around 3mph.

I decided to start at the reed bed at the South end of the big island where I started yesterday. I wanted to see if the area might have gotten better, but it didn't. My first fish was a pike on the watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad. I only got a single 14 inch bass on the stuff I fished yesterday. Instead of pulling out when I was done fishing the point of the reeds I headed West to fish in the very sparse reeds and also along the South Shore of the Island. I came to a few good looking trees in the water but they were not holding fish. I did however pick up an occasional pike or bass on a black/red Monsoor Swim Jig with black/red fleck Zoom Speed Craw among the very space reeds. One little area gave up several fish including this 22" dogfish.

I fished around the Southwest tip of the big island and a little ways up the West shore without success. The sun had come out now and once again I retraced last nights locations and hit the docks and reeds off the tip of the North Point of Channel Inn bay. I didn't get anything off the docks but got two quality bass out of the reeds on the Horny Toad. I took this one's picture because it was as big as anything I caught last night at 15.5".


Next I headed to the NW corner of the lake where once again I fished last night. I pretty much committed to the Zoom Horny Toad for the rest of the night catching some quality fish in the process. I caught a 15.5" and then I got this 16.5"

As I got to the end of the run of the big reed bed I was fishing I nailed this 17.5" which was big fish of the night.

A couple minutes later I got another 16". There was still some light left so I ran to a point on the North end of the lake. This move turned out to be a disappointment because I caught 1 small bass, missed a little pike that I didn't want to catch anyway and I missed either a dogfish or a big bass right by the boat; I am pretty sure it was a dogfish. When it was clear this area would not pan out there was still enough light left to hit the other point and so I did that but all I did was miss 3 or 4 bites which very well all might have been pike. I finished around 9:40.

So in 4 hours fished I caught 16 bass, 8 pike, and 1 dogfish. Last night I fished an hour longer had 1 less bass and the size of my best 6 were quite a bit smaller, so tonight was the better night.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Smallish Fish

Today was cloudy and humid with temps in the high 70's with little wind to no wind. The big question when I went out fishing tonight was how long I could stay out before a thunderstorm chased me off the lake. While I was out a thunderstorm passed to the South around 6PM and then the storms held off until around 9:30PM which is quitting time anyway pretty much. I beat the start of a thunderstorm to the dock by about 5 minutes. If you ask me, I would consider tonights fishing conditions to be about perfect which leaves me a little disappoined in my results.

I was fishing a little before 4:30PM and my first stop was the reed bed off the Southern tip of the big Island. It didn't take long and I had a hit on watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad. I got a good hookset but the plastic on the frog kind of got hung up on the hook and the fish got off. I was not happy. A little while later I broke the ice with this 13" on the Toad.

A few minutes later I was fishing with a black with Chartreuse nose River2Sea Bully Wa and the biggest fish of the night inhaled it.

It's sad to say, but the night's big fish was only 15.25. I worked this reed bed for about an hour and a half and only got 4 or 5 bass and maybe 1 pike.

Next I decided to head West as it looked like the closet thunderstorm was going to pass to the South. I worked around the North side of the small island with various jigs and a the Horny Toad and only caught 1 small pike. After that I headed to some docks and the reeds off the North Point of Channel Inn Bay. I picked a couple of 12inch bass off the docks on a Strike King Z-Too and then it was into the reeds. I had a really good bite from what I believe was a big bass on the Horny Toad but I didn't muscle the fish like I should have and it buried itself in the reeds and got off. I think I caught 1 or 2 small bass from the reeds and had several strikes from small pike. Once it was clear the reeds were not going to be very productive I worked the rice on the NW shore of Channel Inn bay. I don't think I even had a hit in the Rice.

It was now after 7PM and I needed to make a move. I decided on hitting the NW corner of the lake where there is a mix of reeds, rice, and some pads. It wasn't that bad of a choice as I had my best action of the night getting 8 or 9 bass and a couple of pike with several more strikes. I pretty much went with the Horny Toad and Bully Wa to get these fish.

In 5 hours of fishing I got 15 bass and 4 pike, but I had at least 10 more strikes from what I am sure where little pike.
Bass in order caught: 13,15.25,13.5,13,12.5,12,12.75,13.75,13,13.25,15,14,13.75,12,11.5

Story: I almost forgot. I had a little bass take the Bully Wa frog. Before I set the hook sometimes I feel to make sure the fish is there and I was doing that when this 11 inch bass shoots about 3 feet into the air and spits the Bully Wa up another couple of feet. It was quite remarkable.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Slow 2 Hours

I helped Dad with some stuff and went to the Chiropractor and had dinner in Pierz so I wasn't fishing until 7:30PM tonight. Since I only had a couple of hours I elected to stay close to the lake place. I basically started in the SE corner of our bay and worked myself a little less than 3/4ths of the way back. It was overcast when I started but the sun came out around 8:30 before it disappeared below the trees around 9. I fished a couple of docks, reeds, rice, and some pads.
My first fish was this 14.25" bass that took a white Strike King Z-Too (Fluke) in a clearing near rice, reeds, and pads. My next fish was a little pike out of the reeds on the Z-Too. I got a 12" bass shallow off a dock on the Z-Too. Then I got another pike in some reeds on the parrot Outkast Swim Jig with electric blue 5" Action Plastics Super Mag Grub.

For most of the rest of the night I was in thicker rice and I struggled a bit missing my two best bites of the night. I landed an 11 and 14.25 bass on a black with chartreuse nose River2Sea Bully Wa frog and that was it. I quit around 9:30 and got in before it got to dark and the bugs got bad.

So in 2 hours I got 4 bass and 2 pike, kinda slow.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Big Dog & More

It was cloudy all day with rain in the morning and winds out of the South Southeast 5-10mph. The forecast for the evenings fishing was more of the same with possible showers. I started fishing around 5:30PM. My first stop was at what is probably the largest reed bed still remaining on Platte Lake, it is on the NE side of the big center bay on Platte. I have fished here on parts or all of it a few times this year with marginal success. The Plan was to start on the South end and let the wind blow me to the North End using the trolling motor to get to spots as needed.

The first fish of the night was a pike that fell for a black/red Monsoor Swim Jig with black red fleck Zoom Speed Craw trailer. My first bass was this 12 incher that took a Bully Wa frog.

Other than this fish, the surface bite was a non-factor tonight. I worked the reed bed for a good hour and a half and only had 5 small bass and 4 small pike to show for it. I did also miss my best bites when fish buried me in the reeds. I didn't figure out how to fight fish in the reeds until later on in the evening.

Around 7:15 it was decision time. I weighed some of my options and decided on trying the NW corner of the lake in spite of the problems the wind might cause me if it started blowing any harder. As I started getting close to where I wanted to start much to my dismay there was a boat there fishing already. I punted and headed to the North central part of the lake where I had some success the one time I tried it this year. The area has a maidencane bed and reeds off the side of a point and if you go to the farthest point North on the lake you run into rice and some pads. I was working my way through the maidencane casting and pitching the black/red Monsoor Swim Jig when I had a hit and it was a big ole dogfish.

She measured 28.5 inches. The gold thing in the picture is the handle for my net. Unfortunately for me the Annual Minnesota Bowfin Club Tournament ended yesterday.

I started getting bit in the reeds on the back side of the maidencane but I kept losing fish when they would bury me in the reeds. My big problem was that I was trying to power the fish with a rod that just isn't quite heavy enough to do that. Eventually I figured out that if I finessed the fish a little bit using a little give and take I could usually keep them hooked and get them to the boat. I also started catching bigger fish.

The picture of this 15.75" gives a good feel for the look of the area I was fishing. I believe this fish fell for the black/red Monsoor Jig, but what I really started having success on was a parrot Outkast Swim Jig teamed with an Action Plastics electric blue 5" Super Mag Grub. I am really impressed with the Action Plastics grub as a swim jig trailer and the great thing about them is you can buy them in bulk for a decent price. I discovered the grubs pretty much by accident when I stopped in to the Thorne Brothers Outpost and the grubs were the only thing in the store that interested me.

Here is the parrot Outkast Swim Jig:


I believe I caught this next 16.5" bass on a white and silver tinsel Brovarney Swim Jig with a black and white Action 5" Super Mag grub.


It was getting dark and I had a hit right next to the boat and it turned out to be the biggest bass I have caught out of Platte/Sullivan this year. She was only 18.25 but weighed out at 4.10lbs, so she was a gorilla. I used to catch bass like this on Platte/Sullivan on a regular basis, but it seems like they have become a scarce commodity in the last couple of years. Here she is:

I caught one more good fish then called it a night around 9:30.

I caught at least 15 bass (7 of which were over 15") and 6 or 7 small pike.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Nothing Special

Due to a trip into Brainerd I wasn't on the lake fishing until about 7:30PM. It was over cast with little wind. I elected to start my fishing on Loon Sex Point where I was going to fish last night but a boat was on my starting point, so I didn't go. The place I start is at the last dock before it turns to weeds as the point goes on to the East. From that dock on to the end of the point there is a mix of reeds, wild rice, and a few places with pads. From the dock to the end of the rice on the point is a distance of at least 60 to 70 yards.

I got this 1st 16" bass about 15 feet to the East of the dock in some shallow reeds and rice with pads in the vicinity on a watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad. A very good way to start the night. On my way East I saw several abandoned bass beds and I got a couple of minor strikes that didn't hook up. I was mostly throwing a white Cabela's Chuck-It frog, but decided with the overcast conditions a dark frog would be better so I switched to a black with chartreuse nose River2Sea Bully Wa. When I got to where the land ends I got a couple of strikes that I missed, then had this 16 incher just wolf down the Bully Wa as you can see.

I missed a few more hits in the weeds off the end of the point, a couple didn't really take the frog and I did a poor job of setting the hook on a couple. When I got to the end of the rice and pads on the point I started throwing the Horny Toad towards the scattered rice in the bay and I had a ferocious strike but somehow I didn't hook up. I think it was a big pike. I caught a 12" bass on the Horny Toad in the Rice.

It was coming up on 9PM and I decided to head out to the reed point that comes off the South end of the big island. I missed a weak bite and a solid bite that I should have caught off the tip of the reeds. I worked my way North towards the island and booted several good opportunities and I caught a 13" and 14" bass on the Horny Toad. It got to be that time and I headed in.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Docks, Maidencane, North

Today was a beautiful day, it was in the mid 70's, sunny, and little wind in the evening. I started fishing around a quarter to 5PM. With the weather being what it was I figured docks might be good, so the plan was to start by hitting a few select docks just across the bay from our lake place.

Last year I bought some Strike King 3X Z Too's which are basically a "super plastic" Super Fluke but I never tried them out, well tonight was going to be their night. One problem, the one I put on wouldn't sink with a regular Gamagatsu 4/0 Wide Gap hook. Not happy I immediately switched to a "funky chicken" Zoom Super Fluke (bubblegum top & chartreuse belly, with a red tail). I didn't catch anything on the first couple of docks, but I was seeing sunfish activity.
I think I got this first bass (14") casting out to a couple of isolated lily pads. On the next dock down I pulled 4 bass and missed one from under a boat lift and dock. As I worked my way down the shore I seemed to have more luck in the pads and weeds out away from the docks, but at the 2nd to last dock I fished I pulled a nice 15.75" out from under a jet ski lift. I continued down the shore fishing the weeds pads and one last dock, getting a few in the 11-14" range. Also during this whole time I missed a few good bites. As I was coming to the end of the stretch of water I was going to fish there is a little group of isolated pads. I pulled 3 bass off those pads and missed a couple of other bites.

I think it was now after 7PM and it was decision time, where to head next? I was going to hit up the point at Loon Sex bay but there was a boat where I wanted to start so I audibled to go across from the Platte Lake Public access where there is maidencane, wild rice, pads, reeds, and cattails. I started out at the end of the West side of the maidencane and worked my way towards shore where the cattails are. I was using a watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad to cover water. I didn't contact fish right away and the first bite stole the buzz legs from the Toad. My first bass was a solid 15+ that smoked it. Unfortunately that was it for the quality I would catch. As I worked my way towards shore I got bass on the Horny Toad and a white/Chart Nose River2Sea Bully Wa slop frog. Unfortunately this area was holding pike and I lost Horny Toad buzz legs a couple of times and the Bully Wa frog went bye bye as well but I did boat some bass. I replaced the Bully Wa with a white Cabela's brand Chuck-It frog and when they named it the Chuck-It they weren't kidding, you can throw it a mile.

Around 8:40PM it was decision time again and I elected to head to the North end of the lake. As I was working my way out of the reeds I got a solid 24" pike on the Horny Toad. Off to the North End where I caught the biggest bass I've gotten out of Platte Lake. The area is the tip of a point where maidencane and reeds with some rice jut out into the lake. The better water tends to be when you get closer to shore after the maidencane ends. I missed the first couple of strikes and lost the buzz on a Horny Toad. I proceeded to miss several opportunities on the Toad and Chuck-It frog, but I did land about 4 bass including the nights best at 17."

(Here is the 17" with Chuck-It) It's amazing how after catching so many 11-14" fish that a 17" seems like a 19".

It was getting dark and the mosquito's started to come out so I called it a night around 9:30PM or so. My official count was 25 bass though I might have caught a few more than that and I think I also caught 4 pike.

After Storm GOMH and 1 at Jenny's.

Originally I was going to take the boat out fishing, but when I got my tackle together around 5PM a big thunderstorm moved in over Platte/Sullivan. Not knowing how long storms and rain might stick around. I decided to go and hit up the Grumpy Old Man Hole. When I arrived the rain had stopped and there was a 10mph North wind and the current was ripping into Lake Sullivan. I fished the NE side (Platte) and started out throwing a gold/white/purple Outkast Swim Jig with a 5" gold glitter grub.

Right away I missed a pretty good sized jumpin bullhead that I saw take the bait but it just didn't hook up. I started throwing over the rice and pads and would get hits
periodically. It seemed like I would miss them most of the time, but occasionally I would hook up and reel in a 11-14" bullhead. The wind pretty much quit and it started raining for 20 minutes then it was cloudy for about an hour before clearing. I caught a single toothy bullhead and went through a total of 3 of the gold grubs which are not a cheap grub. Eventually the sun came out and I started throwing a war torn white Spro Kermit. I ended up missing 3 good bites and the last one rendered the Mend It bandanged frog un-useable. I am going to retire that frog. I started to throw the Swim Jig again and lost a brand new grub tail without catching a single fish with it. Next I started to throw a River2Sea Bully Wa frog and missed a couple of bites with that. I gave the SE side a quick try but didn't get any hits. Around 8:20 or so I left for Jenny's.

At Jenny's I caught a single 12 inch bass and missed a few other bites on the Bully Wa frog.

South Long, Mille Lacs, & GOMH

(My boater Dwight with a 4lber)

I'm going to try not to say to much in this pre-fish report because we had what would seem to be a pretty successful pre-fish. Had today been tournament day, my boater Dwight probably would have won things going away and I had enough bites to keep me interested even though the fish I caught were not huge, but they weren't Cedar Lake like short fish or barely keepers either. I also pre-fished a lot of the time in such a way that I wasn't going to hook the highest percentage of fish that bit.

I arrived at the lake a little before 2PM and club member Herman who I fished with at Farm Island lake last year was just pulling his boat out. I don't think he caught a fish and he said he only had two bites. He seemed to be a little disgusted with the amount of slimy green moss in the lake. About 10 minutes after Herman left, Dwight showed up and we were on the water by 2:20PM. There was at least 1 other club guy out pre-fishing today.

We did fish some good looking water and didn't get bit like we would have liked, but we found plenty of good looking water that was holding fish. One surprise is that we didn't really seem to run into lots of little northern pike, which was nice. I was hoping to tangle with a few nice dogfish but none of them made an appearance.

The way things are shaping up I think I am going to really like fishing this lake. South Long has a lot of water that is tailor made for fishing Zoom Horny Toads, slop frogs, and lighter swim jigs and I am all about that. Hopefully the weather and fish will cooperate with our primary game plan.

Mille Lacs: I arrived at Eddy's after 7PM and got totally skunked, not even a bite even though conditions seemed to be good.

GOMH: I finished out the evening slopping the GOMH with a brown Snagproof Bobby's Perfect Frog. I caught 3 jumpin bullheads and had 4-5 more bites by fish that didn't want the frog that badly, probably smaller fish. The biggest bullhead I caught, a 2lber, annihilated the frog. I got all my fish on the NE side.

A little Mille Lac-tion

I forgot to bring the camera, so I just took a picture of the lures that caught fish when I got back

I arrived at Eddy's a little after 7PM and kind of went through what has become a routine. First I threw the char/white Strike King spinnerbait. I had a fish bump it and not get hooked up, then I caught a 12 inch smallie on it a few casts later. Next I put on a Rapala Subwalk and that got me a 16-17 inch fish that got off at my feet. The last fish of the night took the Berkley Frenzy jerkbait and was 14 inches.

I did try the Cememtery Jetty but didn't get any hits. I went back to Eddy's after 9PM and didn't get any hits.

I stayed to watch 5 Eddy's launches come back. They had 3,3,2,2, and 1 keeper walleyes on the Launches.

Slow GOMH

Around 8PM I headed to the GOMH for some bullhead action. When I arrived I had a fairly close encounter with a small deer to the west of the bridge. I walked towards it hoping it would spook and go into the woods, but it didn't. Eventually it did get off the shoulder and head for the trees. Right away I noticed that they had been doing some work at the bridge. They added a bunch of rip rap along the concrete on all four sides of the bridge, basically making it much more treacherous to reach the waters edge. I don't like the change. Almost right away I got my only fish on a gold DM Custom Baits Piranha. As you can see in the pic, it's a toothy bullhead. I thought I had a dogfish on by the way it fought, doing spins.

I worked a swim jig and flippen jig without luck and had 1 hit on the Rojas Spro Popping Frog but the fish only took it down by the legs.

Didn't Get Skunked

A nasty cold front came through and afternoon temps up here didn't even reach 50 degrees. Add to that cloudy skies, a 10mph SE wind, and a little rain and it made for a yucky day. I elected not to try and take the boat out, so I hit the GOMH and the Eddy's Jetty on Mille Lacs. You can see my only fish in the picture. I had one other strike on the Spro Rojas Popping frog but it didn't suck the frog in.

Mille Lacs was a waste because the wind was just to much. Had I had a slip bobber set up and some leeches I might have been able to catch walleyes.

Mille Lacs and GOMH Short

Today I went and picked up the Trophy's boat trailer from Prince's Marine where the bunks got fixed. I figured I would hit Mille Lacs on the way back home. I arrived at Eddy's after 5PM and the lot was almost completely filled with boat trailers. I wonder if there is a big walleye tournament going on this weekend? I was lucky to find a good place to park with my trailer and so I headed to the South Jetty. The wind was blowing in out of the NE at about 8 MPH so there was a pretty good chop coming in and casting distance would suffer. Still I managed a single 17.25 inch smallie on the Rapala Subwalk in the pictures.


I also snagged a little perch on a Frenzy jerkbait.

Conditions were not ideal and I noticed more boats launching and I didn't want to take somebody who paid to launches parking place, so I called it a day.

Around 7:30PM I headed out to the GOMH to try for some bullheads. I started on the NE side (Platte) and immediately tied into a couple of jumpin bullheads on a watermelon/chart Brovarney Swim Jig with watermelon Zoom Speed Craw trailer. I think I landed a 3rd jumper on my hot Mille Lacs smallmouth spinnerbait which is a 3/16oz white/chart Strike King spinnerbait with chart willow blades. I then switched to a pumpkin& pepper green Terminator Jig and brought in this 18 incher.
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I got another smaller bullhead on the Terminator. Eventually I switched to the SE side and watched a nice golden bullhead get brought in by one of Grumpy Old Man Lee Anders grand kids. I got a few jumpin bullheads on the SE side, including a 12-13" on a Spro Rojas Popping Frog. I took the Popping Frog to the NE side and had a few swirls and caught a 14" bullhead and I think I also had a shot at a dogfish but didn't hook up. I got cold and left around 9PM. I landed a total of 9 jumpin bullheads.

Some Mille Laction

Today I had to pick up some meds in Onamia, so I made it a shore fishing trip to Mille Lacs. Conditions were Sunny with a light breeze blowing in out of the SE. I started on the South Eddy's Jetti and it didn't take long before I was tangling with an 18 inch smallie. On the very next cast I got a 17 incher. I moved just a little bit farther North and hooked into a 16" smallie. I got all 3 of these fish on a 3/16oz white/chart Strike King spinnerbait with chart blades. I tried a few different things and had some hits but no hook ups. I then got a 13.5" smallie on a Lucky Craft Pointer 100. Things got quite so I went and gave the North Jetty a try but I didn't even get bit there, so I went back to the South Jetty. I lost a fish on a brown Berkley Frenzy Jerkbait, then I picked up a 16 inch Smallie on it. I cycled through a few baits and had another 16 inch class smallie get off my clown X-Rap as I tried to bring it closer to shore. By this time it was after 7PM, so I headed off to the Cemetery Jetty.

I was fishing off the old boat launch and tied into a 14 inch largemouth on the Strike King spinnerbait I got the smallies with. I had another hit on the spinnerbait but it didn't hook up; I got a look at the fish and am pretty sure it was a little pike. Next I headed out to the end of the Jetty, picking up a few wood ticks along the way. The other night with Cyberfish we didn't pick up any. It was slow at the end of the Jetty but I did pick up a single 16 inch smallie on a white with chart nose Rapala Subwalk. I left around 8:30PM and went back to Eddy's, but I didn't get any hits. I called it quits around 9PM.

Mille Lacs Tonight

Encouraged by my results last night I decided to hit Mille Lacs from shore again tonight. I arrived at the lake around 6:50PM. My 1st stop was the Eddy's Jetty where I managed to land this 17 inch smallie on the white Rapala Subwalk pictured from the middle of the South Jetty.

Before I caught the fish I had a swirl on a swim jig and not hit it in approximately the same area I got this fish. I worked the Jetty with various presentations but didn't get any more hits, so I headed to Cemetery Jetty.

While I was cycling through lures I had a hit on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke but didn't hook up. I cast back to the spot and this time the fish took it hard and I landed this 14 inch smallie.

A little while later I was casting the white Rapala Subwalk and hooked into a similar sized smallie. I got it up to the rocks but it got off before I landed it.

The sun had set and much to my surprise Mike "Cyberfish" Thompson of MT Bucket blog showed up. He is a Currier and had a run up by Red Lake today, so he tracked me down on his way back. I had 4 rods with me so I set him up with the Super Fluke.

We were fishing and chatting away when I told Mike I hadn't gotten any hits on topwater as I was throwing a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I speculated that maybe the water was to cold yet. Pretty much as I was saying that a toad slurped down the popper. I knew it was a good fish right away and I was concerned about it staying hooked up which it did.

Mike did a tape measure while I held the fish and he called it at 19". The pic sure makes it look bigger than 19". This was the last fish of the night.